The Innocent
by BookDragon28
Summary: Peter Parker recently lost the last family he had when his aunt and uncle were killed in the attack on the Stark Expo. So why do people come and tell him they found his dad?AU.
1. One

Tony was tinkering in his workshop in Malibu when he got the call "Go for Stark," he said absentmindedly.

"Mr. Stark I am Camilla Laveques with New York's child protective services," the woman, Camilla, had a tone that Tony usually associated with Pepper when she needed him to sign something. It conveyed a sense of urgency, professionalism, and dread at the impending conversation.

"I think you got the wrong number." Tony spun away from his project and started to mess with the holographic blueprints hovering by his desk.

"I assure you Mr. Stark calling you was intended."

"Okay. What can I do for you Ms. Laveques?"

"I'm calling about a matter from the Stark Expo." That made Tony pause. He started to wonder about what CPS needed to talk to him about regarding the expo. His mind briefly flashed to a small boy wearing an Iron Man helmet.

"That was six months ago, everyone that was injured or killed in the incident were suitably compensated."

"All but one Mr. Stark." The conversation had Tony's complete attention now because this involved a kid; a kid who was at the expo. A kid who didn't make it out of there with everything he went in with. Tony's mind went back to that boy; that utterly innocent boy that thought he could fight an armed drone with nothing but toy repulsers.

"I'm not understanding," Tony said panicking somewhat as an idea about this conversation began to form.

"We have a child here who's guardians were killed in the incident. He refused to talk so we ran his DNA through multiple systems to see if we could find a family member and we got one hit."

"I'm still not seeing how this pertains to me personally," Tony lied. _Shit. Shit. Shit. _he thought because the idea wasn't completely unsound if it also wasn't completely ridiculous; any woman that he might've gotten pregnant would have told him, even if it was just to ask for money. _Right?_

"Mr. Stark are you aware that you are a father?" Tony spit out the coffee he was drinking. He didn't think it would actually be true.

"I'm sorry what?!" Tony asked spluttering.

"When we ran the boy's DNA we got a paternal match to you." Tony was silent.

"While you are not the person I would have chosen to parent a small child. You are his father and have rights as his guardian. However if you chose to give up those rights we can find a good foster home for him." She said that as if she was expecting Tony to give him up or maybe just hoping for it. In his shock addled mind Tony recognized her tone it was one he rebelled against most of his life so really it was no wonder the words just sort of slipped out.

"I'll meet you at one o'clock Monday." Before he hung up he heard Ms. Laveques tell him that his son's name was Peter Parker. Tony slipped from his chair to the floor and leaned back on the leg of his desk. He lifted a hand to his face, it had become haggard over the course of the conversation that couldn't have lasted more than two minutes.

"JARVIS call Pepper."

————

"Okay so I have some big news." The three friends of Tony shared a skeptical look at the man pacing the length of the couch they were sitting on.

"It May come as a surprise to you, which it really shouldn't given my history-"

"Oh god who called?!" Pepper asked her voice rising.

"CPS but that doesn't matter right now. Guys I have a kid." He paused gauging the reactions his friends had. So far so good with the expected mix of I knew this was gonna happen one day and shock. "And I want to keep him." That sent the other three into pandemonium as they started to shout over each other to be heard.

"Okay can we have a little quiet please?!" Tony asked as his three best friends started to go back into a silently shocked state.

"So, CPS in New York called me yesterday to tell me about this boy who was at the expo. Apparently his aunt and uncle were killed in the attack and so CPS took the liberty of running his DNA to find relatives and it turned out that I'm a paternal match. So I thought if the kid doesn't have any other relatives I could raise him and then I realized I'm me and I can't raise a kid by myself without the press finding out so I called you three here to help me."

"Tony this is completely unreasonable," Pepper said exasperated after Tony's spiel.

"Is it unreasonable to think that between the four of us we can raise a child and keep it a secret?"

"Yes," Rhodey cut in.

"Come on guys, this is my kid we're talking about."

"Yes the one you found out about yesterday. Do you even have a plan for this?" Pepper asked skeptical.

"Yes, I do. JARVIS pull up information on Peter Parker. Peter lived in Queens with his aunt and uncle after his parents died so I was thinking of buying a small apartment there and having him live there mitigating the shock of having new guardians. And that way no one will go looking for the reason he just up and left."

"And is he just going to live alone?"

"What no of course not! I'm going to move there too."

"And what about your projects? You need a place to work."

"Well we are building a tower in Manhattan so I could work there, you know help build it."

"You do realize that this means you can't drink as much as you used to and you can't be up at all hours of the night in your lab at the tower right? You do actually have to live in this apartment."

"Of course I was going to have a home office for small projects, maybe an apartment at the tower we could use for bigger projects that need more attention." Pepper narrowed her eyes.

"You've really thought about this."

"I was up all last night thinking about it."

"What about the press? I think they will notice when a six year old boy pops up claiming to be Peter Stark," Rhodey challenged.

"And that's why there won't be. We seal the DNA test and all records linking me to Peter as well as having the people that do know sign a mountain of NDAs. He will still go by Peter Parker while legally being Peter Parker-Stark. It also means that I can't pull out of the things that people expect me to do when I don't have a kid and that's where you and Happy come in. During late night galas and business trips where me and Pepper are away you two can look after Peter." Happy and Rhodey exchanged glances. Then all three looked back at Tony, the mad genius they dared to call friend.

"We aren't going to be able to talk you out of this are we?"

"Nope." They all slumped back into the incredibly comfortable couch as Tony opened his mouth again. "Okay, so I have a meeting with CPS on Monday at one so we have five days to find and furnish an apartment in queens New York." They all groaned.


	2. Two

Monday rolled around to witness Tony Stark along with colonel James Rhodes, CEO Pepper Potts, and Happy Hogan all sitting in plastic chairs outside the office of one Camilla Laveques trying to remain professional while having flashbacks to various academic misadventures that led to time spent in extremely similar chairs. It was an odd sight for sure.

They had been there for half an hour showing up at 12:45 for Tony's one o'clock appointment which turned into a 1:15 appointment but now at 1:20 seemed like it was going to become a 1:30 appointment when they were suddenly shocked out of their chair induced stupor by the click clack of heels that were hurrying down the hallway at a fast pace. They all watched as the clearly frazzled woman sped around the corner. Her cream colored business suit was slightly off kilter while her hair that Pepper could tell started as a tight and well-coiled bun only seemed to have half of her curly hair still in it grasp.

"Mr. Stark I'm Camilla Laveques," the woman said as she grasped Tony's hand.

"Sorry for the delay, I was checking in with a foster family that was being difficult. Come along." She twisted the keys to her office and shoved the door open with her shoulder.

When the four entered the room they all winced at the disarray. On top of the desk were copious amounts of paper files that were stack two sometimes three feet high. Running along the walls of the office were filling cabinets that couldn't close fully from the amount of paperwork shoved into them. As Tony and his friends took in the chaos of the office Camilla pulled a large file out of her briefcase and added it to an already two foot tall stack. She then went searching for Peter's file only to find it at the bottom of another pile. She began to tug on the file before Rhodey realized what she was doing and went over to help lift the stack. Camilla blew some hair out of her face.

"Thank you. Now please take a seat and we can discuss Peter." Tony and Pepper were quick to grab the two chairs not covered in paper.

"Okay So first of all Peter lost his aunt and uncle in the Stark Expo incident but he was unharmed. He was looked over by paramedics at the scene and had no injuries besides a few scrapes and bruises." They all nodded.

"Because of the traumatic nature of the incident we had a child psychologist evaluate his mental health and he is showing some signs of PTSD and anxiety but it is not severe. Unexpected loud noises and overwhelmingly bright lights seem to send him into a slight panic but other than that there have just been a few nightmares. The nightmares will most likely go away in time but the anxiety and sensitivity to sounds and lights will probably stay. You should be aware that Peter is on the spectrum." They were silent while they digested the news.

"It is not very severe. So he should live a normal life but according to the psychologist he will get overstimulated more easily, he might not like to be touched, and he could have trouble speaking in a formal setting like a presentation."

"So we really just need to watch for overstimulation, personal space, and help him more with talking?" Pepper asked.

"I would avoid extremely crowded events like sports games or Times Square on New Years Eve at least until he is older and can handle it better. I would also try to keep to a set schedule for day to day living just to set up some stability. Now you might have trouble at first since Malibu will be a big change for Peter-"

"Actually I got an apartment in Queens," Tony interjected.

"Well that will make everything easier. I think that's everything so you'll just need to sign some forms and then we can go se Peter." After signing the forms Camilla swept everyone out of her office and led them down the hall towards a room that had shrieking coming from it. When Camilla opened the door Tony's eyes swept across the room full of children running around on foam mats, playing with different stuffed animals and dolls. Tony was able to pick his son out quickly. They boy was hunkered down in a corner coloring on a sheet of paper wearing a plastic Iron Man helmet. It was the innocent little boy that tried to take on Hammer's drones. As Tony stared Camilla remembered something. "Oh I almost forgot, Mr. Stark your son is quite the science genius." Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper turned to Camilla, Tony was still too wrapped up in the sight of his son.

"Give him a book and he asks for one on chemistry. Let him draw he designs robotics blueprints or molecules," Camilla said with a little shrug.

Rhodey turned back to his best friend and gave him a little shove knowing they would be there all day if someone didn't. Tony shot him a quick glare before he strode over to Peter.

————

"Hey buddy what are you drawing?" Tony asked as he lowered himself into a child sized plastic chair ignoring his protesting joints.

"Gold titanium alloy," Peter responded not looking up from his coloring.

"A gold titanium alloy? Why are you drawing that?"

"It's Iron Man's suit. I like Iron Man."

"You like Iron Man. What do you like about him?"

"His suit. It's powered by a miniaturized arc reactor which has a power output of three gigajoules per second but is less effective running on a palladium core which gives off a silver discharge. It would be more effective if there was a system to absorb that discharge and use it to conduct more electricity, or if a different element was used."

"So you really like the arc reactor technology?" Tony asked surprised at the kid's advanced scientific knowledge.

"It's interesting but I like chemistry more," Peter replied still not looking up from his drawing of a gold titanium alloy at molecular level.

"Chemistry is fun, I prefer physics myself. I recently finished a project of mine, ended up synthesizing a new element. You want to help me name it?" Tony asked. Peter's head whipped towards him and he froze all thoughts of a new element forgotten. Tony Stark, Iron Man was sitting next to him, in the playroom of the orphanage. Why was he there? Surely it couldn't be to see him.

"Hey. Kid." Tony slowly waved his hand in front of the boy's face. Peter snapped out of his reverie but continued to stare his mind, blank seconds before suddenly bursting with thoughts.

"Mr.-Mr. Stark," Peter squeaked.

"Ugh, that makes me sound so old."

"Mr. Stark w-what are you doing here?" Peter asked completely ignoring Tony's quip.

"Well, I heard that there was this little genius that recently lost his guardians. It also turned out that this little genius was my kid so I thought hey might as well get to know him; start a little family you know?" For the second time in as many minutes Peter's brain shut down.


	3. Three

**Okay, so sorry it took so long for me to finish this chapter. I was almost done and then I accidentally deleted it along with most of my ideas for later chapters. Yay me and my clumsiness. Without further ado the chapter you have been waiting for.**

The car ride to the new apartment was a quiet one. As the adults stopped trying to engage Peter in conversation, his mind was to far away anyway as he gazed out of the window while quietly rocking in his seat. Peter's mind had been trying to process the day he had had so far.

The morning was normal he woke up at seven thirty with the other children to have breakfast then he spent the time until lunch avoiding the other children and the loud noises that they made. Then two o'clock came and Mr. Stark, and Mr. Stark being his father. Then they were packing his belongings and taking him with them, they were going to take care of him. _And Iron Man was his dad!_ All in all it was just easier to stop before his brain crashed.

————

The ride from CPS to the new apartment was short and soon enough Peter was being guided by Tony into a modest sized apartment. Tony watched as Peter walked slowly around the living room trailing his fingers along the furniture like they were pieces of art and not something to sit on. After his time in the living room Peter strayed into the kitchen with its clean countertops and state of the art appliances, of which the oven would probably never be used. Tony watched him for a few more minutes before he took it upon himself to steer Peter towards a room with his name spelled out on the door in red wooden letters that Pepper assured him kids liked. Tony opened the door and guided Peter into the room.

"This is your room. I know it isn't much," Tony said as he looked at the bed with its plain red bedspread, the bare walls with empty floating shelves, and the sad looking desk. "We weren't entirely sure what you liked so we covered the basics and we can go shopping for more personalized stuff," Tony paused hoping for a reply," Well I'll let you get settled." Tony backed out of the room leaving Peter fiddling with the hem of his shirt in the middle of the room. Tony walked back down the hallway to where his three friends waited.

"So what now?" The other three stared at him.

"Dinner," Tony blurted," Is it time for dinner? How about pizza? Kids like pizza. Right? Or should it be something more healthy, like a chicken sandwich? Or what about burgers, I like burgers." Pepper ended up ordering pizza as Tony kept rambling.

Dinner was a mostly quiet affair as well until Tony brought up the shopping trip.

"I was thinking we could go to the mall tomorrow and get you some more clothes and things for your room, how does that sound?"

"Okay," Peter responded quietly with that dinner fell back into silence; cut only by the sound of chewing and ice clinking against water glasses. When dinner was over Peter left for his room again as Rhodey and Tony cleaned the dishes.

———

It was a sunny Tuesday morning that saw Tony, Happy, and Peter enter the large but hushed shopping mall. "So should we start with decorations or clothes?" Tony asked as he turned to Peter. Peter shrugged.

"Clothes it is, always best to get that over with." Tony reaches for Peter's hand and was glad when Peter complied, there was no way Tony was going to let the kid out of his sight. Two hours had passed by the time they were done looking for clothes and Happy had made two trips back to the car. But Tony was ecstatic that Peter seemed to have inherited his sense of style of sweatshirts, graphic T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. They had also learned that Peter despised more formal wear, even if Tony did force him to choose one nice outfit, because you never know. Then came the truly delightful part, decorations for Peter's room. This was something Tony was looking forward to so he could learn about what Peter liked. Over the rest of their trip Tony was pulled in so many different places, three of the biggest being Iron Man, Star Wars, and Legos. The kid was a giant but loveable nerd. While the shopping trip did help Tony learn more about Peter the boy was still quiet, he hoped that Peter would open up._ Give it time._ Tony reminded himself, this is all overwhelming.

————

It had been a little over a week at the new apartment and everyone seemed to be adjusting well. Even Peter was opening up a bit more and was starting to talk a bit. It was on a night with a raging thunderstorm when around midnight Peter opened the door to Pepper and Tony's bedroom. Peter was so tired that he didn't even notice that the two adults were still awake working on their Stark Pads, the storm having kept them up. He climbed into the middle of their bed, ignoring both adults, and curled up facing Pepper with his back against Tony's side. The two adults looked at each other over the sleeping child, their Stark Pads forgotten. It was the first time Peter had blatantly asked for help from the four adults that lived there. That morning Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark became Pepper and Tony.


End file.
